This invention relates to the field of time keeping and, more specifically, to methods and apparatuses thereof for setting alarms based upon time plus or minus an offset of a random number of minutes.
The first devices created to keep track of the time of day were probably sun clocks. The Egyptians used obelisks as early as 3500 B.C.E. to keep track of daytime hours. To obtain better accuracy and not have to rely on measurements of astrological bodies, the water clock was invented as early as 1500 B.C.E. The Greeks began using water clocks (called clepsydrasxe2x80x94xe2x80x9cwater thiefxe2x80x9d) around the year 325 B.C.E. Improvements were made during the following centuries, but significant change in the form of clocks did not occur until much later when weight driven mechanical clocks began to appear in the early 14th century in the form of clock towers. Next, spring powered clocks were invented around 1500 and the minute-hand followed in the year 1577, invented by Jost Burgi. But significant improvement in the accuracy of time keeping occurred only with the invention of the pendulum in 1656 by Christiaan Huygens. In 1928, W. A. Morrison built the first clock based on the oscillations of a Quartz crystal providing yet another significant improvement in accuracy.
The idea of an alarm clock first involved simple concepts such as using a candle. A nail, placed into the candle wax would fall into a tin pan and make a noise when the candle burnt down to the nail. The first mechanical xe2x80x9cwind-upxe2x80x9d alarm clock was patented by Seth Thomas II in 1876.
Waking up in the morning or simply being on time is a difficult proposition for many people. It is quite common for people to use alarm clocks to wake or alert themselves at a predetermined time. In the current age, mechanical alarm clocks have been replaced by digital alarm clocks. Most modem alarm clocks have a snooze button that allows one to temporarily turn off or shut-off the alarm for a short period of time and thus allow the person to doze of for a few precious extra minutes of sleep. Unfortunately, this sometimes leads to oversleeping. To counteract this problem some people set their clocks ahead so that they can be deceived into thinking it is later than the actual time. Thus the person senses a greater urgency to get up. The only problem with this technique, of course, is that the person knows exactly how much time has been added to the clock and can thus calculate the actual time in his head. The effectiveness of this approach is therefore seriously compromised. Thus, there has been a long felt need for a better means capable of providing that extra urgency to get up.
The present invention addresses this need by introducing uncertainty into time being displayed. However, the history of clocks shows a progression towards ever-improving accuracy. Thus, the idea of intentionally introducing error into the time-keeping process is unusual. That is, whereas a great deal of effort has been dedicated in the time keeping art to reducing the randomness inherent in clock time bases, the present invention intentionally introduces randomness. Indeed, there are few references to such a concept.
Dahl, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,326,881, shows an alarm device that sounds at random times during the day. The purpose of the device is primarily to facilitate moments of xe2x80x9cmindfulness, awareness, stress reduction.xe2x80x9d But this use of randomness is not employed to degrade the accuracy of the displayed time.
Two other US patents disclose random clocks whose purpose is to intentionally degrade the accuracy of the displayed time. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,398, Hiemke teaches a time piece that displays the time plus or minus a random offset. The random offset can change on a periodic or random basis but it is applied continuously so that, essentially, the clock simply displays the wrong time. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,051,967, Dismond teaches a clock that has a primary display and a secondary display. Like the invention of Hiemke, the primary display shows the time offset by a random amount. The secondary display is activated by the user to show the correct time. Dismond does not explain how or what happens when an alarm is activated. Thus, while these inventions show the wrong time, they do so continuously and without discussing any means for incorporating a random offset alarm function. Simply adding an alarm function to Hiemke or Dismond""s invention would produce nothing more than an alarm clock whose time is set incorrectly.
Therefore, what is needed is an alarm clock that normally displays the correct time and thus functions as a useful time piece. Then, during the alarm function the clock modifies the time, unbeknownst to the user, so that when the alarm is sounded the user cannot know what the time offset is and is forced to assume the least available amount of time. The ability to add in and remove a random time offset for the alarming feature enables this alarm clock to function as an accurate time piece during normal operation while also maximizing the user""s confusion about how much time he or she actually has when the alarm is sounded.
It is not uncommon for people to adjust their clocks forward by some amount, such as five or ten minutes. Setting the clock ahead in this manner helps them to wake-up on time or meet scheduled appointments by making them believe the time is later than it really is. This method relies to a certain extent on human psychology because the person obviously is aware that he or she has moved the clock forward. Despite this shortcoming people apparently do find this approach to being on time useful.
It is the object of this invention to provide an improved method for awakening people or helping them to meet scheduled appointments at pre-determined times. This object is accomplished by a random change of the time so that upon being awoken by the alarm (which could be a buzzer, radio, scent, tactile stimulus or any other means of awakening a person from sleep) the person will perceive less time to awake and get prepared than they actually have. However, unlike xe2x80x9csetting the clock aheadxe2x80x9d, the person will not know how far changed the actual time is. As a result, the person will have to assume that the time displayed on the clock is the actual time. The urgency to get up is therefore not contravened by knowledge of the time advancement.